Access Health CT Reaching Out To Customers Named In Notebooks

June 13, 2014|By MARA LEE maralee@courant.com, The Hartford Courant

Last week, Access Health CT said it would offer credit monitoring, identity theft insurance, preventive freezes on credit reports, and fraud resolution services to the people named in handwritten notes in a backpack left on Trumbull Street in Hartford.

Friday, the state health insurance exchange said it sent a priority overnight letter to 395 people whose names were in the notebooks, and others who had been served by the employee who left the backpack behind, to let them know these options are open to them.

"We'll also be making follow-up phone calls to all of these individuals, to ensure they are aware of the services being made available, and answer any questions," said Jason Madrak, chief of marketing for Access Health CT.

Any customer on the exchange can call a dedicated phone number for privacy and security at 1-860-757-6844 if they have questions. For the hearing impaired, that number is 1-855-789-2428.

"We are continuing to work with the Hartford Police Department and Maximus on a full investigation to determine what occurred, and what actions are necessary to ensure this does not happen again," Madrak said.

The employee who left the backpack outside a Trumbull Street deli worked for Maximus, the exchange's call center vendor.

A Maximus spokeswoman said this week that the employee violated corporate policies and procedures for handling personal data. The worker was placed on administrative leave, though the spokeswoman said the company had no reason to believe the information was used "for fraudulent purposes."

Fraud detectives from the Hartford police department have been investigating.